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visit carecredit.comforward/beccarspodcast.

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This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare

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podcast, and we are live at the business

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and operations of ASCs.

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I am joined right now by Ademina

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Pedraza, who is the medical director at Deerpath

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Ambulatory Surgical Center in Morris, Illinois. So thank

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you so much for joining me today, and

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would love to have you start off by

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introducing yourself and telling us a little bit

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more about your work in the industry.

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Well, as you mentioned, I'm a physician anesthesiologist

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and the medical director at your path ambulatory

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surgery center in Morris, Illinois.

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I've been working in

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the medical profession for over 38 years.

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Working as the medical director

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at Your Path has

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expanded my scope of practice into the business

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aspect

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and

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the importance

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of

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the teamwork in making a successful

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surgery center work efficiently.

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Absolutely. Well, thank you for being here today.

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And first question for you,

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ASC volume across the country is expected to

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increase by 16%

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by 2032.

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So with this growth, what are the most

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pressing challenges to maintaining a positive patient experience?

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I think the most pressing situation right now

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for all surgery center is staff employment.

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Having consistent

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staff

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that's familiar and comfortable

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with their working environment

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helps to expedite

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and make patients feel more comfortable.

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If somebody isn't shuffling around

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looking for supplies

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or doesn't know the flow of the system,

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patients become insecure.

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They want confidence.

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They want

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a comfortable experience.

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They don't want to have any mistrust.

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So when your staff is comfortable,

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they'll be friendly and happy to your patients.

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And the patients feel that. They notice the

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difference

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instead of a hustle bustle of a bigger

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hospital setting.

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100%.

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And kind of going along now, what strategies

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have worked for your organization to tackle some

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of those challenges?

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And what's one recommendation that you have for

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health care leaders to stay ahead?

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Educating their staff.

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Education, education, education.

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If everybody's familiar with the procedure

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and the expectations,

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we take our preoperative staff. We move them

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into the operating room to observe, to see

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what the surgery is about so that when

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the patients come out in the outpatient area,

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they're able to

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confidently explain

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and

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answer questions that the patients may have and

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understand

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how complicated of a procedure

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it was.

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A lot of the nurses that are limited

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to their ambulatory area or their inner and

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outpatient area don't understand what's happening in the

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operating room. By having the staff

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be immersed

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in the full experience

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offers the patient an opportunity to experience the

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full experience and have ease to answering questions.

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And how can leaders ensure their staff are

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well equipped to help patients navigate the financial

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aspects of care? And how does this benefit

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patient provider relationships?

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Oh, it's very important.

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You know, the bottom line is the bottom

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line for all patients.

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So understanding

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what's expected, whether there's a co pay or

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no co pay

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or

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whether physical therapy is covered under their postoperative

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care is important discussions to be done before

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entering our surgery center.

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So it starts in the deposition's office.

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We also recommend that our

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registration staff calls the night before to see

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if there's any questions

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that they're prepared to whether they need to

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bring a card or a co pay. And

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this helps the overall experience. If patients have

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less surprises,

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they're happier.

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A 100%.

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Is there anything else you'd like to share

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or talk about today on the podcast?

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I think it's important

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for ambulatory surgery centers to realize that the

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team approach is is extremely important.

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You know,

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reimbursement and paying people for their time is

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one thing,

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but recognition

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of their input as a team member

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is ultimately

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the best thing that you can do to

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have

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a good working environment.

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Everybody

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tries their best from the person that smiles

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at the front desk to the person that

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leads them into the operating room. To make

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a full

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experience for every patient,

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it has to be teamwork. And the recognition

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of all this work

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is probably more important than reimbursement.

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I mean, of course, that's what everybody looks

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for in a job is their salary. But

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recognition of their work is ultimately

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the thing that'll keep workers staying

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at your facility.

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Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for taking

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the time to join me today on the

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Becker's healthcare podcast. Again, we're live at the

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business and operations of ASCs. Thanks so much.

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Thank you.